Teachers Discuss Using VEXcode VR remotely

At VEX Robotics, we are ecstatic over how well VEXcode VR has been received by schools, teachers, and students all over the world. VEXcode VR is currently being used in over 126 countries around the world, with an astounding 3 million projects run. I recently talked with a few educators about their experience with VEXcode VR.

On keeping students engaged…

Joe Edlhuber is a Middle School MakerSpace Teacher at Greater Atlanta Christian School who started using VEX IQ in 2014 for a robotics elective class. Joe and I discussed that one of the main challenges of teaching virtually was keeping students engaged. Joe mentioned that VEXcode VR has been helpful with keeping students connected to their Robotics and Coding class:

Thankfully, our class is divided and chunked into Robotics AND Coding, so most of my students were able to hit the ground running with VEXcode VR without any issues. The lessons are simple enough to be completed within our classroom time still, but also challenging them to think outside of the box on how to accomplish the goals. One of the nice things is that there doesn’t have to be a single correct answer for coding, so students are free to explore what will work and what won’t. When I showed them the Castle Crasher playground this morning they were very excited to knock some blocks over!

Joe Edlhuber

Joe also mentioned that the number of different playgrounds has helped keep things fresh and different for the students while they are using VEXcode VR.

On amplifying student voice and choice…

Anna Blake is an Instructional Technology Specialist at Elizabeth Forward School District. Anna spends a lot of her teaching time on Computer Science and Computational Thinking, so VEXcode VR was a natural fit into her teaching:

My students love going in and trying out new things. My students are encouraged to try and fail and try again. I have seen my students send me screen recordings of their program using VEX VR. When my students are engaged, I’m thrilled.

Anna Blake

Many teachers are using Choice Boards in their classrooms to help amplify student voice and choice. Anna has used VEXcode VR with her choice board with great success:

VEXcode VR allows me to put an activity on a choice board and allow my students to dig deeper into coding in a real world experience such as coding a robot through a maze or making a spiral.

Anna Blake

On providing timely and targeted feedback…

Lori Colangelo is a High School Technology teacher at Hopewell Area School District. She’s created a unique way to help her facilitate her students while they are using VEXcode VR:

With each activity, I provide students with relevant articles from the Knowledge Base. While teaching remotely, it is more difficult to give students feedback or to immediately answer their questions. Therefore, the Knowledge Base has been a big help while the students are using VEXcode VR.

Lori Colangelo

We commend Joe, Anna, and Lori as they continue to find creative ways to teach their students during this difficult time. Teachers around the country and the world continue to teach with passion and creativity, and we are happy that so many of them are using VEXcode VR.

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